213hoops.com
Clippers vs Pelicans Preview: Spooky Season
The Clippers will try to move on from a disappointing loss to the Warriors against the struggling Pelicans.
Game
Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, KEIB 1150
Projected
Starting Lineups
Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears – Trey Murphy III – Herb Jones – Zion Williamson – DeAndre Jordan
Clippers: James Harden – Bradley Beal – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Pelicans: Zion Williamson Questionable (Foot), Dejounte Murray Out (Achilles), Kevon Looney Out (Knee)
Clippers: Bradley Beal Questionable (Back), Jordan Miller Out (Hamstring), Kobe Sanders Out (Knee)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers
are 2-2, which isn’t too bad, but the fanbase is pretty unhappy with the team’s
play through four games. Honestly, fans have a point. The Clippers completely laid
an egg in their first game against the Jazz, beat up on a terrible Suns team in
game two, scrapped out a win against a decent Blazers team, and then completely
fell apart against the Warriors. It has not been an inspiring stretch to start
the year to say the least. The good news is that so many different players have
been disappointing that the Clippers have to improve at some point.
The
Antagonist
The Pelicans
have been really bad to start the year, going 0-4 and losing a couple of their
recent games by significant margin. That they’ve been so bad even with a
healthy-ish (for the Pelicans) roster including an in-shape Zion Williamson is
a bad sign for the Pels’ season. They are a team that has a lot of real talent,
and is young and athletic, but just does not fit together very well. Because
their front office traded their first round pick this year for Derik Queen, the
Pelicans have no reason to tank – they are going to string together some wins
at some point. But right now, they are a miserable watch.
Notes
The Starting SG Spot: A lot of discussion on Clippers’ social media channels in the past week has centered on who the Clippers should start at guard next to James Harden. Bradley Beal was given the spot before training camp, and Bogdan Bogdanovic has stepped into replace him in the two games Beal has missed. Neither Beal nor Bogi has been effective, with little impact on offense and negative impact on the other end. In each game, the Clippers have noticeably improved when Kris Dunn has come in for either of the more offensively-tilted players. I do think Beal has a longer least on the starting role, but if the Clippers continue to struggle and Dunn remains more impactful, it’s possible he could regain his starting role that he held last year. I think we are a ways away from that, however.
CP3 and Brook Slow Starts: The Clippers have higher profile players who have struggled, but their bench additions of Chris Paul and Brook Lopez have both been ineffective in the regular season after very strong preseason performances. They are old and slow, but their combined shooting and IQ should make them impactful to some extent in a way they have not been so far. The CP3-Brook pick and pops and defensive smarts being effective would go a long way towards the Clippers looking better than they have so far this season.